1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a reproducing apparatus that thins out a plurality of continuous audio digital data representative of audio signals such as voice or music recorded on a recording medium so that the thinned data will be reproduced in fast-forward.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When audio data are thinned out before being reproduced, the boundary between data immediately preceding the thinned data and data immediately following the thinned data may be made discontinuous, causing abrupt variations in sound volume and hence noise. Such noise needs to be reduced, so a technique has been proposed to reduce the noise. In the technique, the amplitude or sound volume of a plurality of continuous data that precede the thinned data is gradually reduced to zero on the boundary, while the sound volume of a plurality of data that follow the thinned data is gradually increased from zero. Such a conventional technique makes it possible to reduce the noise resulting from abrupt variations in the amplitude on the boundary of data caused by thinning out the data therebetween.
However, such a technique as to gradually reduce the sound volume, make it zero once, and gradually increase it again produces a hum because it is to temporarily turn down and then turned up the sound volume of plural data preceding the thinned data and plural data following the thinned data. This causes another problem that the hum grates upon the ear.